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Ex-White House spokesman blasts Bush

WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- Scott McClellan, an ex-Bush administration insider, says U.S. President George Bush engaged in what he calls "self-deception" and the war in Iraq was a mistake.

In his about-to-be-released memoir, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," the former White House press secretary said Bush "convinces himself to believe what suits his needs at the moment," The New York Times reported Wednesday. The aim of this "self-deception," he said, was to justify his political goals.

Regarding Iraq, McClellan called the Republican president's decision to invade Iraq a "serious strategic blunder."

McClellan, 40, was part of the group of long-time advisers Bush brought with him from Texas, serving as White House press secretary from July 2003 to April 2006.

The charges leveled in the book, which is published by PublicAffairs and is to hit bookstore shelves Tuesday, were first reported by Politico.com and the Times said it also obtained an advance copy.

FBI warns of new al-Qaida threats

WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- The FBI has warned 18,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies al-Qaida will issue a new call for use of weapons of mass destruction, ABC News reports.

The FBI told ABC there was no evidence of a direct threat but that the bulletin was issued as a precaution.

"There have been several reports that al-Qaida will release a new message calling for the use of weapons of mass destruction against civilians," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told the U.S. network in an e-mail.

The terror group's supporters were expected to post a new video on the Internet within 24 hours, intelligence and law enforcement sources told ABC. One source said that video was expected to call on "jihadists to use biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to attack the West."

The FBI spokesman noted similar messages have been released in the past and that the agency and Department of Homeland Security "have no intelligence of any specific plot or indication of a threat" to the United States.

Ben Venzke, chief executive officer of IntelCenter, a group that monitors terrorist communications on the Web, downplayed the importance of such videos.

"Supporter videos are made by fans or supporters who may not have ever had any contact with a real terrorist," Venzke said.

Lake burst feared

BEIJING, May 28 (UPI) -- Chinese rescue teams Wednesday faced the prospect of having to evacuate up to 1 million people in the path of an earthquake-formed lake that could burst.

Already more than 100,000 people near Mianyang city have been relocated from the vicinity of the Tangjiashan lake created by the May 12 quake in Sichuan province.

However, authorities said that number could swell to a million if the lake, formed by debris, gives way before the water can be diverted toward the nearby Jianhe River.

The gigantic operation is complicated by the fact that the region continues to be pounded by major aftershocks. Area roads are blocked by fallen rocks and mudslides and all equipment has to be either airlifted or carried on the backs of rescue workers traveling on foot.

There are about 600 soldiers and engineers at the site using excavators and bulldozers to dig a channel to drain the lake.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the excavation and evacuation must go hand in hand, Xinhua reported.

"We must well prepare and do the two parts of work side by side," he said.

Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangy, who visited the lake site, warned the Tangjiashan quake lake "is threatening millions of lives in the area downstream and any negligence will cause new disasters."

Five die in clash Baghdad's Sadr City

BAGHDAD, May 28 (UPI) -- Fighting between U.S. troops and militant forces in Baghdad's Sadr City killed five people and wounded eight, Iraq's Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

The fighting occurred in Sadr City's Fadhailiya district, scene of several clashes between U.S.- and Iraqi-led forces and supporters of rebel Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, CNN reported.

Since a cease-fire was reached this month, violence in Sadr City has dropped, the Interior Ministry official said.

Police reported at least four people were killed and 46 hurt Tuesday when a car bomb detonated in Talafer in northern Iraq.

The explosion occurred in a crowded market, a local police officer told Xinhua. Women and children were among the victims, police told the Chinese state-run news agency.

Talafer is about 40 miles west of Mosul, considered to be the last urban location where al-Qaida holds sway, Xinhua said. Just days earlier, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker said he believed coalition security forces are closer than ever to defeating al-Qaida, though U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll said Sunday the insurgency is still a serious obstacle to peace.

PTSD cases soar in combat veterans

WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- At least 30 percent of all U.S. combat troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, Pentagon officials said.

Pentagon records released Tuesday show the number of U.S. troops diagnosed with PTSD is up 50 percent to nearly 40,000 in 2007 compared to 2006. The increased diagnosis is in part due to increased deployment lengths and repeated combat tours but is also due to better medical record keeping, The Washington Post said Wednesday.

Military officials said the total number reported may be only a fraction of the total PTSD cases because of the shame some soldiers feel with reporting symptoms. PTSD sufferers experience feelings of dread and emotional numbness.

"We're in our infancy right now of fully knowing what the extent of this is," Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker told the Post.

The military is faced with a lack of trained medical personnel to deal with the increased number of troops with PTSD, but Schoomaker said the Army plans to hire more specialists to deal with the issue.